Chapter 20: Why Are You Arresting Me?

No one wanted to fall too far behind; after all, falling behind was synonymous with being a burden.

Their granddaughter had said that in the post-apocalyptic world, even the elderly could become very strong, provided they had the capacity to consume enough mutant plant food.

How could one consume it quickly? Naturally, through plenty of exercise, or even combat.

The mountain behind the village was called Olive Mountain, named after the olive tree at its summit. Xiaosha Village had originally been established at the foot of the mountain, but as the population grew, the houses gradually expanded up the slopes, and now they reached halfway up.

Despite the "Xiao" (small) in its name, the village was not small; it consisted of nearly a thousand households, totaling no fewer than four thousand people.

The Qin family lived at the southernmost edge of the village. It usually took ten minutes to reach the last house at the end of the village, but today it took them half an hour.

Along the way, Qin Xiaoyu didn't miss a single plant, afraid that her eyes weren't enough to take it all in. As she encountered more, some of her theories were confirmed.

Mutant plants emitting a red glow were irritable and would proactively harm people, while those emitting a green glow currently appeared relatively docile. The final conclusion would have to wait until they leveled up; after all, a Level 1 mutant plant had limited capabilities, and it was possible the green-glowing ones were simply slower to react.

The old mango tree had a brighter green glow, suggesting it would break through to the next level before long. As she passed, Qin Xiaoyu patted it.

[Human child, do you want to eat fruit?]

Qin Xiaoyu paused and asked, "Yes, can you give me some?"

The next second, she heard the mango tree say:

[Pity, I am owned by someone else; I cannot give it to you.]

"I only want one," Qin Xiaoyu probed.

She waited a moment, but the mango tree didn't answer. She patted it a few more times, but was met only with silence, as if the previous answer had been an illusion.

"What are you doing? Can mutant plants even communicate?" An Xian looked at her suspiciously.

"I was just testing it. It looked very friendly, so I wanted to see if I could communicate with it." Qin Xiaoyu silently withdrew her hand. For now, she could only confirm that she could hear the thoughts of some plants, but she had never successfully engaged in a conversation.

An Xian glanced at the old mango tree and unconsciously knit her brows. What was wrong with this child’s eyes? The tree was the most awkward-looking thing she had ever seen—truly grotesque. It must have suffered many injuries during its growth, and the places where the bark had healed looked somewhat horrific upon closer inspection. Even on a normal day, she found its appearance frightening.

Now that the apocalypse had arrived and plants were mutating, the mango tree felt incredibly terrifying, as if it might open a bloody maw at any second.

Qin Xiaoyu, unaware of her mother's thoughts, patted the tree twice more, trying to communicate, but still received no response.

Not far ahead was one emitting a red glow. She thought for a moment and walked over.

"Hi, hello there." Qin Xiaoyu patted it twice.

[Such fragrant carrion fertilizer, I want it.]

It was also a mango tree, but this one was quite vicious. Seeing one of its branches arching like a bow, Qin Xiaoyu silently pulled her hand back and retreated a few steps, exiting the branch's attack range.

"Mom, it's so fierce!" Qin Xiaoyu pointed at the arched branch. If she had patted it one more time, that branch probably would have whipped her.

An Xian’s eyelids twitched. Although the branch wasn't thick, it would definitely hurt if it hit someone.

"So, that’s why it glows red?" An Xian asked.

Qin Xiaoyu nodded. She pointed her finger one by one; there were currently three mutant plants within a hundred-meter radius. Aside from the old mango tree, the others glowed red. She had also checked the other one—a thorny vine that felt even more dangerous.

Qin Bosong stared at the malicious mango tree that had tried to strike his daughter and calculated the feasibility of sawing it down. But it was someone else's fruit tree; was it appropriate to cut it down?

He considered it for three seconds and decided to cut it anyway. Regardless of whose it was, bullying his daughter was unacceptable.

The sound of the chainsaw startled everyone. They instinctively looked over to see Qin Bosong raising the saw against the mango tree. Old Qin frowned, instinctively wanting to say that this was old Mr. Wu’s fruit tree and it wasn't right to cut it, when he saw his granddaughter sprint forward like a cannonball.

"Hey, Xiaoyu, what are you doing?"

Qin Xiaoyu leaped, swinging her bone-cleaving knife toward the top of Qin Bosong's head. The onlookers turned pale with fright; there was no need to use a knife just to stop someone from felling a tree!

The next second, the knife hacked off a section of a branch. If Qin Xiaoyu hadn't reacted quickly, that branch would have pierced the top of Qin Bosong's head, and the consequences would have been dire.

Qin Bosong looked back while steadying the chainsaw. Seeing the severed branch, he inexplicably felt a chill on his scalp. After cutting the tree down, he turned off the saw and reached up to touch his head.

*Holy crap, am I going bald early?*

He glanced at his daughter, then glanced again. Did you ever think that if you had been off by just a little bit, your old man's skull would have been sliced off?

Qin Xiaoyu remained expressionless, as if she hadn't seen his look, and picked up the branch to examine it carefully. Seeing her mother walk over, she handed it to her.

An Xian took it, and her expression changed instantly; the words of reproach she had ready died in her throat. The branch was extremely hard and sharp at one end. If one were struck by it, they would either die or end up brain-damaged. She passed the branch back for everyone to see.

"Level 1 mutant plants aren't usually this powerful. It must have felt a death threat, was on the verge of evolving to Level 2, and concentrated all its power into this one branch," Qin Xiaoyu whispered to An Xian.

An Xian’s expression darkened. "So, Level 1 mutant plants aren't as safe as we thought. One moment of carelessness and there’s a risk to life."

Qin Xiaoyu nodded; that was indeed the case.

The crowd’s expressions were equally grave, with the exception of the naive and silly Daxia. Plants were already this terrifying at the start of the apocalypse; as time went on, what would happen? They didn't dare to imagine.

No matter how strong humans were, they only had two hands, but plants were different. They were rooted in the soil, constantly receiving energy, and could grow countless branches and leaves. Even if not all branches could move freely at the start, as their levels increased, more would inevitably become mobile. How could people ever fight that?

*Woof!*

Shaobing, having discovered something, suddenly charged toward the mutant thorn thicket. Tieguo seemed to have seen it too and scrambled to follow, only to be grabbed by the tail by Qin Xiaoyu’s quick hands.

"Don't go!"

"Shaobing, don't run! Wait for me!"

Seeing Shaobing take off, Daxia yelled and tried to chase after him, but the next second, he was grabbed by the back of his collar by Qin Hao.

"Big brother, why are you grabbing me?" Daxia asked, confused.

Qin Hao said nothing, turned around, and tossed him to his aunt.

An Xian didn't say a word; she snapped off a mango tree branch and whipped Daxia’s backside. Only after he began to cry did she speak with a darkened face: "What did I tell you before we left? You must stay close to the adults and not run around. Did you take my words as—"

Before she could finish, a miserable yelp came from Shaobing.